This exotic wildcat, the lynx, ranges from gorgeous to scary. It reminds me of an over-sized domestic cat with a hefty mane and body. There are four major species, Eurasian Lynx, Canada Lynx, Iberian Lynx, (and the smallest) Bobcat. Dawn already has great information in her artist comments here: http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/8861/1/1/how-to-draw-a-lynx,-lynx.htm My tutorial is a realistic pencil approach focusing on its face. I also want to give a shout to finalprodegy for his tutorials on wildcats. I literally followed closely on how he drew fur because I never did a wildcat and short stubby fur like this. His tut is "How to Draw a Realistic Puma." I hope you learn something from this tut and please enjoy! A fav, love it or comment would be fantastic! Luv n hugs to you all and thank you!!!

How to Draw a Realistic Lynx

STEP 1.

Sketch the circle for the lynx's head. Lightly draw this with a No.2 or HB pencil. You can use a lid, compass, CD... or just freehand.

STEP 2.

Sketch lightly the bisecting line to help with the balance of the lynx's features.

STEP 3.

Looks like alien, right? *giggle* Go ahead and draw red diagonal lines for ears and the cup shape for the muzzle.

STEP 4.

You can draw in the lines a. for eyes, b. for nose, c. for mouth, d. for neck placements.

STEP 5.

Now draw the lynx's eyes, whiskers and markings.

STEP 6.

Observe where the wildcat's features appear in relation to the guidelines. Draw in its muzzle, whiskers, and markings.

STEP 7.

Watch closely how the lynx's head and the inside of its ears, and the black hair tuft at the tip of the ears relate to the guidelines. As you draw, you will have more accuracy.

STEP 8.

When you sketch his hair on the left side facing you, add those straight lines and with a slight curve. Try staying close to the lines that represent the direction of the fur. This will help as you shade it in.

STEP 9.

Now draw in his the right side of the lynx's fur. If you haven't already, you can erase your guidelines.

STEP 10.

I made this line drawing especially for you if you don't want to do the pencil shading and blending part. Otherwise, let us continue to the pencil drawing part.

STEP 11.

Here is the outline done with a 0.7mm mechanical pencil. Look closely and see if your lines look something like this. You can erase if certain areas like the eyes or nose don't line up. Take you kneaded eraser and dab off the shadow outlines or dark lines with your kneaded eraser for a more realistic look as you shade. Shading transition from dark to light (or visa versa) should be smooth... no harsh lines. Be patient with this, it's not as complicated as you may think. As you do more pictures, this will come easier to you.

STEP 12.

This time Acrylics has won! Sandpaper, the new kid on the block has to take a back seat to my wonderful Titanium White or Opaque White Watercolors for HIGHLIGHTS! Yaaaa! Try it, you'll like it!

STEP 13.

The picture that goes with this step shows two different ways to hold your pencil to acquire certain effects. OVERHAND: Holding a sharpened pencil in normal writing form with fingers in the middle or near the lead gives you great control and thin/detailed strokes. UNDERHAND: Holding the pencil at a 45 degrees or near level to the table with end of pencil under your palm with pencil on the flat side, gives you large shading coverage. With the No.2 pencil, you have the exposed lead side to shade with. But for a wider swath, use that Cretacolor Monolith graphite pencil with no wood casing. The whole sharpened portion is all lead, like in the step's picture. Practice the toning values to help you with control.

STEP 14.

PENCIL STROKES & TONE, SHADING, TEXTURE -- For your convenience, I have inserted this step with different pencils, strokes to use. And you can study the shapes that make up this drawing universe, along with tone, shading, and texture.

STEP 15.

If it weren't for Finalprodigy, I don't think I would've done as well. His words really helped me to finish this product with satisfaction: "As a rule of thumb, body fur flows away from the head. Make sure that you are drawing in those long light hairs that start above the eyes. It may be a pain to draw each one in detail but they do add a lot to the realism of the piece so don’t get lazy!" Check out the picture to this step for the direction of the lynx's fur.

STEP 16.

The picture here is a great exercise for value shading. I've got a little secret tip for you to make things easier. You can download this to your desktop. First click on the picture to have access to full size. By right clicking on your mouse, you can select "Save Image As." It should save to your desktop.

STEP 17.

After printing out a number of the above template, practice shading in the values like this picture. You become familiar with this shading technique that gives you more control and confidence.

STEP 18.

I have never done a wildcat of this magnitude before. I was like, "What do I do with all that fur." I resorted to sketching in the details with my 0.7mm HB trusty mechanical pencil. And for the beginning of this sketch, I applied direction arrows of the fur to help out.

STEP 19.

Now that the midsection from his nose up is done. I've made short individual strokes for the cat's hair. If you need a directional guide, go to step 15.

STEP 20.

With my blending stump, I smoothed out the sketch lines and added more texture lines to his fur with my 0.7mm mechanical. Also I took my kneaded eraser and made white line definitions for the whiskers and hair within its ears.

STEP 21.

This is the first start with the pastel application. In a few strokes I've got area coverage. Applied medium gray to face. Medium dark gray to hair. I used my blending stump to "draw" in more small lines, add more shading the face. I need to whiten areas like the tip of the fur on its mane and muzzle. I also worked in the background with medium light to dark gray with my blending stump and tissue. I darkened the outline with 9B graphite pencil. After those adjustments, I sprayed the picture with "Krylon Workable Fixatif" to adhere the pencil & pastel to the paper for a non-smudging and workable surface. I thought I was finished. Once I saw the picture after scanned, it was too light in areas and cartoon looking.

STEP 22.

I have to say this...OH, I'M GLAD I'M FINISHED... how about you? This was one heck of a learning experience. The fur details came out because I added more shading with my pastels and darkened the background. I took white acrylic and added highlights to fur strands and catch lights in the eyes. I am totally satisfied. And I hope you are too with your creation. To help out with specific areas of highlights, tone, texture, etc., the next two following steps will show you.

STEP 23.

Without highlights, your picture would have a flat appearance. Click on this picture to learn how to make your own picture POP out!

STEP 24.

Click on this picture to see how Tone, Shading, Texture, and Reflective Light affects the Lynx! I am closing out now. But you all have been wonderful and it has been a great pleasure to do this tutorial with you. Please fav, comment, and show your love here. And I will definitely reply back soon or eventually. Love, peace, happiness, success, and more beautiful days to ya! *hug* *blowkiss*

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